Two
North Jersey Men Sentenced To Prison For
Racketeering In Connection With Gang-Related
Murder In New Brunswick In 2008

TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that two members of the Nine Trey
Headbustas set of the Bloods street gang
were sentenced to state prison today for
their roles in a gang-related murder in
New Brunswick in 2008.

According
to Director Taylor, Syree Hakins, 38, of
West Orange, was sentenced to 16 years in
state prison, including more than 13 years
of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court
Judge Kevin G. Callahan in Hudson County.
Tyrane Mathis, 35, of Newark, was sentenced
by Judge Callahan to 12 years in state prison,
including more than 10 years of parole ineligibility.
Both men pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2010
to
first-degree racketeering.

In
pleading guilty, Hakins admitted that he
ordered the murder of fellow gang member
Devin Thompson, 19, who was fatally shot
on Nichol Avenue in New Brunswick on June
2, 2008. Mathis admitted that, acting on
behalf of the gang, he participated in Thompson’s
murder.

A
third co-defendant, Davon Parker, 23, of
Edison, pleaded guilty before Judge Callahan
on Nov. 19 to first-degree racketeering
for helping to plan and carry out the shooting.
He is awaiting sentencing.

Supervising Deputy Attorney General Lauren
Scarpa Yfantis prosecuted the case for the
Division of Criminal Justice Gangs &
Organized Crime Bureau and represented the
state at the sentencing hearing.

Hakins,
Mathis and Parker were charged in a Nov.
4, 2010 state grand jury indictment obtained
by the Division of Criminal Justice, which
charged the alleged leader of the Nine Trey
Headbustas, Michael Anderson, and 18 other
members and associates of the gang with
first-degree racketeering. Anderson, 38,
allegedly led the gang from New Jersey State
Prison in Trenton. The crime of racketeering
carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in
state prison. Anderson is also charged with
promoting organized street crime, which
carries a sentence of 15 to 30 years in
state prison.

The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
remaining defendants are presumed innocent
until proven guilty. The indictment stems
from “Operation Hardhat,” an
investigation that began in 2007 and was
conducted by the New Jersey Department of
Corrections Special Investigation Division,
State Police Street Gang North Unit, Division
of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized
Crime Bureau, Middlesex County Prosecutor’s
Office and New Brunswick Police Department.
They were assisted by the Hudson County
Prosecutor’s Office, Essex County
Prosecutor’s Office, Jersey City Police
Department, Newark Police Department, Paterson
Police Department and other law enforcement
agencies.